Oct 20 2008
The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems orders worth $66 million for continued production of thermal weapon sights. Used on rifles, machine guns, and mounted weapon systems, the sights provide around-the-clock surveillance and target acquisition capabilities, increasing situational awareness, lethality, and survivability for men and women in combat.
The thermal weapon sights, or TWS, allow soldiers to see deep into the battlefield in darkness and through smoke, fog, and other obscurants, helping soldiers detect, identify, and engage targets at increased ranges.
The order is the most recent under a five-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract administered by the Army’s Research and Development Command Acquisition Center at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. It increases BAE Systems’ total thermal weapon sight contract value to more than $400 million, including funding for initial engineering design for new TWS technology that will reduce the size, weight, and cost of the sights.
“This award will provide urgently needed thermal weapon sights to men and women in the field,” said Bruce Zukauskas, director of thermal weapon sight programs for BAE Systems in Lexington, Massachusetts. “It paves the way for advances in developing the next-generation sights, and will ultimately deliver lighter, smaller, less-expensive sights to those who need them most.”
BAE Systems recently completed deliveries of weapon sights three months ahead of contract schedule on a separate $296 million Army contract. To date, the company has delivered more than 32,000 sights to meet urgent Army TWS fielding requirements in support of ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.